Mohamed Salah completes move to Turkey's Trabzonspor
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Mohamed Salah is accompanied by Trabzonspor President Ertugrul Dogan as he arrives in the Black Sea city of Trabzon on Aug 5.
PHOTO: REUTERS
ISTANBUL – Former Liverpool star Mohamed Salah signed a two-year contract with Turkish club Trabzonspor on Aug 6, after leaving the English Premier League giants at the end of his contract.
The 34-year-old Egyptian international reached “a two-year agreement” with the club on the Black Sea coast who will compete in the Europa League play-off round at the end of August.
The second-highest-paid player in last season’s EPL, Salah will earn €17 million (S$25.2 million) per season in addition to bonuses, a record for the Turkish league, his new club said.
Salah will also receive a 20 per cent share of revenue from sales of jerseys and merchandise bearing his name.
The Egypt captain was welcomed as a hero by thousands of fans in the north-eastern city of Trabzon and is set to take part in a signing ceremony with supporters at Trabzonspor’s stadium later on Aug 6.
“I am really happy... and looking forward to training with the team. Everywhere I go, I always win or try to win something. Hopefully we can do something in the league and in Europe as well,” Salah, who will wear the No. 10 shirt, said on Aug 5.
Salah has previously played in Egypt, Switzerland, Italy, and England.
He netted 257 goals for Liverpool in 442 appearances in all competitions during his nine-year spell, making him the third top goalscorer in the club’s history, winning two EPL titles and a Champions League trophy.
He also scored 193 EPL goals, 191 of them for the Reds, putting him fourth in the all-time list behind English trio Alan Shearer, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney.
Salah was far from his best in a struggling Liverpool team last term, scoring only seven times in the league but that did not diminish his popularity.
He last played at the World Cup, helping Egypt reach the last 16 for the first time since 1934 before they blew a two-goal lead to suffer an agonising loss to eventual runners-up Argentina.
Salah had also been linked with Trabzonspor’s Super Lig rivals Besiktas.
Trabzonspor finished third in the Turkish top flight last season, nine points clear of Besiktas, to qualify for the Europa League play-off round.
Salah has scored 66 goals in 119 international appearances for Egypt and is one of the most successful African players in history. AFP